Water gate



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Patented May 5, 1953 WATER GATE Averno T`. Black, Deseret, Utah Application March 28, 1949, Serial No. 83,817

(Cl.v6128) iiv Claims.

This inventionrelates to Water gates as used extensively in. connection with irrigation canals and ditches.

In Aregions where irrigation of agricultural crops. is essential because of semi-arid climatic conditions, water is customarily parceled out to vthe `individual users from canals which serve as main arteriesoffsupply. The now passes from such canals into so-called irrigation ditches which traverse the iields of the individual wateruser.

Since'the supply of water is usually limited in quantity. any' given area, considerable care is exercised to guard r against waste by leakage. Eurthermorafcare must be exercised in the distribution of the water between individual users, so'that such distribution will be'eduitable, and also between'given partsioi-v anyone individuals property, sovarious crops will. get appropriate quantities. of water.

` Watergates: asberetofore constructedA for use in the control offlowv between canal and` canal, canal, and.ditch and between the veriousditches on a given'property haveembodied a gate slid- -able within: ordinaryscliannelA slideways, the fit between plate margins and slideways being as close as could reasonablybe employed without producingv binding against sliding action ci the Cin actual practice, this fit has not been suiiiciently watertight to protect against leakage and consequent waste or improper distribution of the water.

In accordancey with this invention, however, I provide a Watergate construction which effectively seals against water leakage, without binding or otherwise hindering opening and closing of the gate.

Thus, a principal objectof theinvention is` to provide a water gate construction wherebyleaic- `age isreduced to a'minimum, ifr not prevented faltogether, and gate operation is free from diniculty.

Other objects are to provide such a. construction which is. relatively simple, which may be economically fabricated and easily installed; which will give long, trouble-free service, and which is capable of fabrication in a variety of sizes to fit a variety of needs.

An outstanding feature of the invention is the provision of resilient slideways rwhich hug marginal surfaces of thegate at alltimesfthereby mechanism, as

not only insuring tightness against leakage at all times, but eliminating any looseness of t between gate and slicleways, which, in conventional constructions, tend to produce binding and sticking ofthe gate.

Further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred specific forms illustrated inthe accompanying drawing byway of example and not of limitation.

in the drawing:

Fig. l represents either a front or a rear elevation ci one form of water gate, `pursuant to the invention, as installed across an irrigation ditch;

Si, a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig; land drawn to an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3, a view similar to that of Fig. 2, but illustrating the position of the slideway-deining members prior to installation of the gate; and

Fig. fi, a view corresponding to that of Fig. 2, but illustrating a somewhat different form of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing: as illustrated in Figs. 1,2, and 3, a slideway frame it is perinanentiy installed across an irrigation ditch il, as by means of embedding inY a 'concrete receiving wallY l2.

The slideway frame is'preferably rectangular and comprises Aperipheral base members which are here shown as flat strips i3, of uniform width. Such strips maybe of vsheet metal, structural steel, wood, or other suitably rigid material. They are joined at the frame corners in any suitable fashion. For exampleiwhen sheet metal is employed, a long strip of same be bent into rectangular form and the twoVVV ends joined, in any one oi the ways customary in the sheet metal art. In such instance, the top member |30, will be provided with depending, reinforcing flanges it, which add the structural strength necessary to support the weight of a gateand gate-controlling hereinafter described. Where structural steel is utilized, a length of saine may be bent in similar manner to provide `the two sides and the bottom, the top cross-piece being an inverted channel welded in place.

Attached to respective base members, and extending inwardly of the frame, are gate-receiving members which areof'resilient formation dening sealing slideways for agate.

In the illustrated embodiment, elongate, gatereceving members l are resiliently formed of stily flexible and water resistant sheet material, such as a structural sheet metal, bent to general W-conguration to provide wings |5a which diverge outwardly from a centrally disposed reentrant bend portion |517. Such re-entrant bend portion |5b defines an elongate, slideway groove I6 which is suftlciently deep to provide an effective seal along received margins of the gate l1, see Fig. 2.

The respective gate-receiving members i5 are preferably bent to shape from a strip of sheet metal so as to be integral in formation. The required resiliency is imparted by the bends, especially those adjacent the re-entrant portion |512, see I3, Fig. 3, such resiliency being enhanced in the illustrated construction by the wings |5a. It is advantageous that the resiliency be suiiciently powerful to force the defining walls of the groove into mutual Contact when the gate l1 is not in place within the slideways, as is shown by Fig. 3.

In the embodiment of Figs. 2 and 3, a line of contact between opposing walls is made at the mouth of the groove I6, see I9, Fig. 3, providing pressure seals against opposite marginal surfaces of the gate when installed, see Fig. 2.

The respective gate-receiving members |Ei are advantageously attached to the base members |3 by means of feet |5c of clip formation formed by bending the terminal portions of wings |511, inwardly upon themselves. The respective feet |5c engage opposite edge margins of the base member E3, thereby stressing the gate-receiving member so that its resiliency becomes operatively effective. The base member and engaging feet are preferably anchored by embedding in the concretereceiving wall I2, as shown.

While this manner of attaching the gate-receiving members to the respective base members is preferred, attachment may be satisfactorily enected in a variety of other ways, for example, by the use of suitable fastening means such as rivets, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Gate-receiving members are always provided at opposite lateral sides of the slideway frame as sealing guideways for the gate. As is customary, gate-controlling mechanism in the form of a threaded stem received and movable by r an internally threaded hand-wheel 2|, anchored to the top cross-piece, is provided for raising lowering the gate along such sealing guideways, it being noted that the resilient nature of the gate-receiving members not only accomplishes ecient sealing against leakage of water through closed portions of the water gate structure, but effectively eliminates any tendency toward binding, also. The sealing pressure, it will be found, does not hinder operation of the gate.

It is advantageous, though not alway necessary, that the bottom cross-piece of the slideway frame be also provided with a gate-receiving member, as illustrated, so that the seal will encompass all the avenues where water could leak through the water gate structure. In this case it is advisable that the meeting edges of the several gate-receiving members be soldered or otherwise rendered water-tight.

The gate l1 may be provided with supercial guide frames 22, if so desired.

In Fig. 4 is illustrated a somewhat different embodiment, wherein opposing elongate ribs are formed longitudinally of the groove-defining walls 26 of the gate-receiving member 21, project- .4 ing inwardly of the slideway groove 28 and providing localized areas of contact against the gate 29. Such areas of contact provide lines of pressure seal which are equivalent to those established at the mouth of the slideway groove I6 of the previously described embodiment, but eliminate extensive face-to-face contact areas which add frictional resistance to the operation of the gate.

In all instances it may be said that the gate has a wall thickness at the marginal portions thereof received by the slideway grooves which is in excess of the normal width of such grooves, whereby the groove-defining walls hug the gate for sealing and guiding action.

Whereas this invention is here illustrated and described with respect to certain presently preferred specific forms thereof, it is to be understood that various changes may be made therein and various other forms may be constructed on the basis of the teachings herein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from the protective scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. In water gate construction, laterally disposed and elongate slideways spaced apart in opposed relationship to define a flow passage therebetween and to receive a gate for controlling ilow through said passage, cach of said slideways being formed of stily flexible and wat-er resistant structural sheet material bent to general W connguration wherein the bends are free for flexure and the central re-entrant bend has a constricted portion removed. outwardly from the closed end thereof and facing the similarly constricted portion of the central re-entrant bend of the opposed slideway for slidably receiving the gate therein and making a sealing engagement therewith; and means anchoring the terminal portions of the wings of said N conguration in their mutually spaced relationship.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the terminal portions of the wings are bent inwardly upon themselves to provide respective feet of opposing clip formation, and the anchoring means are respective rigid strips received by and extending between the said feet.

3. The combination recited in claim l, wherein the wings of the W configuration diverge in their extension from their respectively corresponding bends.

lower end of the gate.

7. A water gate, comprising laterally disposed and elongate slideways spaced apart in opposed relationship to dene a flow passage therebetween and to receive a gate for controlling flow through said passage, each of said slideways beings formed of stiilly iiexible and water resistant structural sheet material bent to general W ccnguration wherein the bends are free for lexure and the central re-entrant bend has a constricted portion removed outwardly from the closed end thereof and facing the similarly constricted portion of the central re-entrant bend of the opposed slideway for slidably receiving the gate therein and making a sealing engagement therewith; means anchoring the terminal portions of the Wings of said W ooniiguration in their mutuaily spaced relationship; gatesea1ing means extending between the lower ends of said slideways; and a gate slidably mounted in and extending between the said re-entrant bends of the respective slideways, being sealingly engaged by the said constricted portions thereof.

8. A water gate as recited in claim 7, Wherein the gate-seating means is a similar slideway ioining the lower ends of the laterally disposez'` siideways.

AVERNO 'I'. BLACK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

